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Most reliable car brands for 2026
With a masters degree in automotive journalism, Dino has a forensic knowledge of the car industry and works closely with our lab to find the best (and worst) models.
A reliable car is one you can trust not to let you down. But no amount of test drives or chats with your local dealer will tell you how reliable a car is.
Every year, we survey thousands of drivers to find out if they've had any problems with their car. These can range from minor issues to catastrophic failures. We use the results to identify which brands make the most and least reliable vehicles.
Best cars: discover the cars that aced our lab tests
Most and least reliable car brands
Which? members can log in to view the most and least reliable car brands in the table below.
Not yet a member? Join Which? today to unlock our results and access all of our online reviews.
The table below shows our reliability ratings for each manufacturer, based on 0-4, 5-9 and 10-15 year age groups.
| Brand (click for reviews) | 0-4yr reliability | 5-9yr reliability | 10-15yr reliability | 0-4yr sample size | 5-9yr sample size | 10-15yr sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital £8.99 per month, cancel any time. Already a member? Log in | 59 | 55 | 53 | |||
| - | - | 42 | - | - | ||
| 1,722 | 1,969 | 932 | ||||
| - | - | 54 | - | - | ||
| - | - | 76 | - | - | ||
| 2,329 | 2,312 | 1,069 | ||||
| 341 | 541 | 548 | ||||
| - | - | 201 | - | - | ||
| 278 | 242 | 108 | ||||
| 234 | 388 | 389 | ||||
| 1,597 | 2,640 | 2,146 | ||||
| - | - | 49 | - | - | ||
| 1,131 | 1,101 | 832 | ||||
| 1,177 | 993 | 593 | ||||
| 223 | 359 | 148 | ||||
| - | 71 | 57 | - | |||
| 1,728 | 1,011 | 541 | ||||
| 361 | 394 | 252 | ||||
| 645 | 356 | 160 | ||||
| 509 | 592 | 385 | ||||
| 1,545 | 1,219 | 543 | ||||
| - | 590 | 113 | - | |||
| 465 | 518 | 332 | ||||
| 938 | 1,078 | 833 | ||||
| 536 | 662 | 591 | ||||
| - | - | 99 | - | - | ||
| 179 | 91 | 65 | ||||
| 526 | 512 | 382 | ||||
| 297 | 499 | 287 | ||||
| 1,049 | 1,224 | 704 | ||||
| - | 60 | 70 | - | |||
| 289 | 388 | 229 | ||||
| - | 787 | 162 | - | |||
| 1,940 | 1,858 | 1,017 | ||||
| 735 | 1,309 | 1,262 | ||||
| 1,653 | 1,725 | 1,274 | ||||
| 868 | 613 | 321 |
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Data based on an online survey of 63,334 drivers who told us about the 72,470 cars they owned, conducted April 2025 to June 2025. "-" = not enough data to produce reliability rating.
Which? car brand reliability tool
Which? members also get access to the our car brand reliability tool, which lets you look up reliability data for individual brands and, where available, their various fuel types.
Please note: We're currently updating this tool with the latest reliability data. The new version will be available in the coming days.
How we work out car reliability
Our robust reliability research is powered by the experiences of 63,334 owners who have given detailed insight into the ownership and maintenance of 72,470 cars (Which? car survey, in field April 2025 to June 2025).
The reliability scores are calculated from data including the number of breakdowns and faults suffered by cars in the past 12 months.
Faults are weighted according to seriousness. So the more severe the fault and the more time the car is off the road, the harder the model will be hit in our results. These scores are represented by a star rating, with one star being the worst and five the best.
To see how individual cars scored for reliability, see our guide to the most reliable cars.
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